Biology of bypass vessels and their relation to patency and disease

Current standard surgical technique in patients undergoing coronary bypass grafting involves the use of an internal mammary artery (also known as an internal thoracic artery) bypass graft, in general to the left anterior descending coronary artery, and in many centres also the use of the right internal mammary artery to the right coronary artery. Several clinical studies have shown the superiority of mammary artery bypass grafts for survival of patients compared to the use of venous bypass grafts alone. Indeed, the internal mammary artery has several biological features, discussed in this chapter, that are remarkable and of great interest for biologists, cardiologists, and surgeons alike.